How can journaling help you access your inner guidance?

As Nietzsche said, “There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.” But, you don’t have to take a philosopher’s word for it. Scientific research backs this up. Malcolm Gladwell discusses this concept in his book, Blink. He describes an experiment in which participants have two decks of blue cards and two decks of red cards. Each card gives the participant money or takes money away. Choosing a red card sometimes awards a high dollar amount, but usually results in a large loss. In contrast, the blue cards rarely lose money and usually award a small amount of money.

Before the participants became consciously aware and able to describe the pattern, their bodies began to respond to the pattern by sweating when they reached for a red card. Participants also began to unconsciously choose more blue cards before they were able to describe the pattern. Researchers found that participant’s bodies responded after about 10 rounds of the game, and that participants were able to articulate a hunch about the pattern after about 50 cards, but it took around 70 cards before participants were able to describe the pattern. (You can learn more about this study from this NPR interview with Malcolm Gladwell.)

In many ways, whether we realize it or not, we are running our lives by the knowledge that our bodies holds. We can, however, learn to be consciously in touch with the knowledge of our bodies. Doing so allows us to approach life with self-honesty, clarity, and self compassion. Have you ever made decisions that you didn’t want to make over and over again? Repeated the same bad habits? The same bad relationships? When we consciously understand why we are making decisions, we introduce the ability to have a dialogue with ourselves about that decision.

Being in touch with the wisdom of our bodies also allows us to receive the valuable inner guidance that our bodies have. When you are in touch with your inner voice you can have that “Ah ha,” hunch earlier in a pattern and you can rest in the knowledge that the hunch - your gut feeling - is trustworthy. It also feels great. To me, being in touch with my intuition feels calm and grounding; it provides a sense of being rooted to myself and the present moment.

Journaling is a great way to strengthen your connection with the knowledge of your body (i.e., your intuition, inner voice, inner guidance).

Photo of hand poised with pen over journal. — *Photo Baramee/stock.adobe.com*

Journaling to connect with your inner guidance

Here are a five types of journals to keep to develop a stronger connection to your intuition and inner guidance.

Dream Journal. Our dreams have messages for us. These messages are straight from our subconscious and they have a profound ability to connect us to our intuition and inner guidance. Interpreting your dreams is the process of learning how your body, mind, and soul use symbols and stories to communicate your inner guidance. A dream journal helps you pay attention to your dreams. Over time, a dream journal also helps you remember your dreams and teaches you how to interpret and understand your dreams. Visit the Example Dream Journal & How to Keep a Dream Journal posts to learn more about dream journaling.
Free Association Journal. Start with a random word and write down the next word that comes to mind. Try to feel the next word instead of thinking it. Continue until you’re at the bottom of the page. Re-read the page and circle the most surprising connection you made. Write about why you think you made this connection. Visit the free printables page to get a free association journal prompt to give it a try. This journaling technique is great for learning how to access your inner guidance because it teaches you to allow information to flow freely without the need for explicit connecting logic, and this is often how intuition and inner guidance arrives. When you’re re-reading your free association journal page and thinking about the reason for your most surprising connection, you’re teaching your conscious mind that the information provided by your intuition is worth paying attention to and you’re practicing how to interpret that information. With practice, this technique can help you learn to access your inner guidance.
Music Journal. A lyrics journal is a type of music journal that’s designed to help you connect with your intuition and inner guidance. A lyrics journal is also a great choice if you don’t have a lot of time to commit to journaling. To keep a lyrics journal, whenever the lyrics from a song pop into your mind, jot the lyrics down in your journal next to the date. When a song lyrics pop into your mind, this is your subconscious talking to you! Writing it down will tell your subconscious, “Hey, I’m listening!” Think about why the lyrics might have come into your mind. Do the lyrics relate to something you’re going through or something you’re processing? You can write about why you think the lyrics came into your mind in your lyrics journal, or you can just write down the lyrics. At first the connection the lyrics have to your life might not be clear at all, but eventually if you keep up your journaling habit you will recognize patterns that will explain why some songs pop into your head. This type of journaling also teaches you to pause and pay attention to what is going on internally with you, so it’s a quick and fun way to get into the practice of connecting with yourself and your inner guidance throughout the day. Want to give this type of journaling a test run? Download this free lyrics journaling printable!
Quote Journal. When a passage in a book, a line in a poem, or words in a movie or television show strike a chord with you, write the quote down alongside the date in a quote journal. Reflect on why the quote appeals to you. Quote journals are an easy way to start getting in touch with your intuition and inner guidance, and once you’ve kept a quote journal for long enough they’re also a great way to see various themes that have arisen at different times in your life. My quote journal is my longest running journal and one thing I love about it is that unlike a lot of other types of journals it’s quick and easy to re-read later. As I flip through my quote journal, which now spans over a decade, I’m always amazed to see the recurring themes and ideas showing up in the quotes. In recent years, I have also noticed that quotes I recorded over a decade ago spoke to deep-seated emotional hurt that was in need of healing and my attention. Through the quotes I recorded from the books I read and movies I watched, I could see that even before I was consciously aware of what needed healing, my inner guidance was at work directing my attention without my conscious awareness.
“Everyday” Journal. We would never expect to maintain a good relationship with a partner or friend without quality time and conversation. Still, somehow it’s easy to forget that maintaining a good relationship with ourselves also requires quality time and conversation. Journaling is a great way to set aside quality time for a conversation with yourself. In an “everyday” journal, you can write about what’s on your mind and heart with no rules or agenda. Write about whatever flows into your mind even if it doesn’t “make sense.” If it helps, you can start with a journal prompt, and then veer off into wherever your intuition leads once you’re into the flow of the conversation with yourself. (You can view journal prompts here.) Despite the name, you don’t need to write in this journal everyday for it be effective way to get in touch with your inner guidance, so don’t pressure yourself if you miss a day!

In fact, don’t place too much pressure on yourself with any of these journals. Keep your journals around in a location you’ll see them and don’t push yourself to stick to a schedule or hit a specific goal. Inner guidance flows in its own way and on its own schedule, and I’ve found that pressuring myself to stick to a journaling schedule isn’t helpful to accessing my inner guidance which is why I journal in the first place! Pick it up when it feels helpful to you and write as little or as much as you want. Without the pressure of “failing” at journaling, if you simply allow yourself to journal when it feels right, the habit will develop on its own if and when it feels nourishing.

P.S. If you’re looking for another journaling idea to help you access your inner guidance, check out the post on connecting with your intuition through blackout poetry. I use blackout poetry as a form of journaling and connecting with my inner guidance and it’s also a lot of fun!